Cattle prices jump as ranchers begin to rebuild

A quality cow that sold last year for no more than $1,800 now fetches about $3,000.

The Associated Press

FRANKSTON — A cow runs circles in a small pen, her baby close by her side. Ranchers, their brows wrinkled, scribble in a glossy catalog while high on a podium the auctioneer slams his gavel, taking bids as the price of the pair rises rapidly.

The high-profile auction at the Neches River Ranch gave cattlemen a good indication of how long it might take to rebuild after Texas’ devastating drought and what it might cost them.

A quality cow that sold last year for no more than $1,800 now fetches about $3,000. The average price for a bull is up $500. And a cow with a 300-pound to 400-pound calf by her side is selling for about $2,800, sometimes more than $3,000 — almost double the $1,700 they commanded two years ago.

“Since we’ve gotten rain and everything, the price has really jumped up,” said John Dixon, a rancher near Elkhart, who with a slight nod of his head bought a $7,000 cow. “They sold at a pretty good level all the way through.”

Last year’s historic drought forced ranchers to cut their herds because they had no grass and couldn’t afford high hay prices. Hundreds of thousands of cattle were slaughtered or sent out of the state, leaving Texas, the largest livestock producer in the nation, with its smallest herd since the 1950s.

Mary Lou Bradley raises bulls in Memphis to sell to ranchers for breeding. She spent more than $100,000 on hay to keep her animals fed during the drought, which is still grips the area, and now she’s looking for new markets. Her Bradley 3 Ranch sold a number of bulls this year in Florida, Colorado and Missouri, but because Texas has relatively few cows left, there was little need there for males for breeding.

Bradley has been keeping an eye on bull sales and hoping for a turnaround. Some saw record prices. At other auctions, barely anyone showed up. Some were canceled because ranchers feared they would not have buyers, she said.

“People are not buying back yet,” Bradley said, noting that sales in Nebraska, Montana and other states that have had good rain have been better than in Texas. Even in western Oklahoma, which has largely recovered from the drought, ranchers remain nervous.

Many who are buying animals now are putting out money with the hope that they’ll make it back in a few years if beef prices remain high.